The Crystal
by Canon Archives
Summary: Leo wrapped his right hand tightly around the crystal. He linked his free hand with her fingers and his intense dark eyes met hers. "I will never take it off for as long as I live," he promised. "I am wearing this to my grave." A montage of moments about that crystal Calypso gave Leo that led him back to Ogygia. Post-BoO, Caleo. Please read.


**A/N: Hello all,**

 **This is a one-shot montage of Caleo moments that I have been bouncing around in my head for a while. It's a combination of ideas and things I've written that I couldn't figure out how to fit into my other fan fictions. All of these moments were building up in my headcanon, and all of them required the crystal that she gave him that eventually brought him back to her. _I_ know that this crystal is extremely important and symbolic and awesome, but no one else does! So this is the progression of how that crystal grew to represent their love for each other and how it became a long-standing family legacy.**

 **Please enjoy, and review with your reactions!**

* * *

 **August 2010**

It was only her second night off the island. Her second night of mortality. Her second night of life.

Calypso and Leo were both tired from a long day of fighting off monsters. It seemed as though every kind of creature had risen out of the Doors of Death, and now they could hardly fly ten minutes without some sort of encounter. As night fell, they had found of small strip of beach off the coast of Spain where they decided to camp out.

Now, Calypso sat by the water with her bare feet digging into the cool sand. She had wrapped herself in Leo's army jacket and inched closer to the bonfire to stay warm. When she closed her eyes, Calypso could almost imagine herself back on Ogygia, with the steady sound of crashing waves and the smell of the salty breeze. But when she opened her eyes, she could see small lights in the distance, evidence that civilization was not far away. She smiled to herself. It still seemed surreal that she was in a new place. She was back in the world, and she could go absolutely anywhere she wanted.

"Do you miss it?"

Calypso was drawn from her thoughts by Leo, who had gone to collect more firewood. He knelt down on the sand next to her and dropped a few more logs into the flames.

"Hm?" Calypso asked.

"Do you miss it?" Leo asked again. "Ogygia."

Calypso nodded. "A little," she replied.

Leo adjusted the logs and the flames rose higher, and then sat back on the sand. He pulled out some wires from his toolbelt and began fidgeting absentmindedly. "I could have just stayed with you on the island," he said. "Then you could still be immortal, and you wouldn't've had to leave your home."

Calypso gave him a sad smile. "I do not regret leaving, Leo," she told him. "My punishment was more than just lacking company. I was tired of being isolated. I was limited in where I could go and what I could do. If becoming mortal was the only way for me to break free of that, then I believe it is worth it."

Leo nodded, his eyebrows scrunched together in thought. "Home is the people, not the place, right?" He looked up at her with a sideways smile.

Calypso smiled back and put her chin on her knees. "Leo," she asked thoughtfully. "I don't think you actually told me - how _did_ you find the island a second time?"

"With this," he pulled something out of his tool belt. The object was a round, flat disk with several gears hinged together on the back. He handed it to Calypso and she studied it curiously. The circle was marked with numbers and symbols along the edges, and there was a sizable indent in the middle. A thin needle spun around on top of the disk. "It's called an Astrolabe," Leo explained. "It's a kind of navigation tool. It works kind of like a compass, except - " he pulled something smaller out of his toolbelt - "It needs this in order to work."

Leo held up the object for her to see and grinned. "Recognize this?"

The object glinted in the firelight, and Calypso realized she did recognize it. "The crystal," she said in surprise. "The one I gave you from my cave."

"Yup," Leo nodded proudly. He handed it to her. "That crystal was my ticket home."

Calypso ran her fingers along the rough edges of the crystal. It was about the size of a small egg. She remembered chipping off the piece from her cozy little cave on Ogygia. At the time she thought Leo had just wanted it as some kind of cheesy souvenir. She had no idea how essential it was to his impossible return.

"Your ticket home," she murmured. She held the crystal up to her lips and gave it a soft kiss. "Thank you, crystal," she smiled. Leo chuckled.

"You can hold onto it," Leo told her. "As a keepsake from Ogygia."

"Thank you," Calypso said to Leo. She held the crystal close to her chest. "Thank you for everything."

* * *

 **February 2011**

They finally made it to Camp Half-Blood. It had been a rather hectic day, with everyone overjoyed to see Leo alive. He found himself quickly swept between Jason and Piper, his cabin mates, and the workshop, with hardly any time to breathe. Leo didn't think he had ever been given so much attention in his entire life. Calypso also was dealing with abnormal amounts of attention, namely from Piper, as well as from much of the gardening club and the arts and crafts club. She was a girl with many talents, and it was very easy for her to find things to get involved in. Unfortunately, all this attention gave Leo and Calypso very little time to interact with one another.

At dusk, the campers began meandering over to the campfire after dinner. Leo had just finished his last meeting of the day with Annabeth to discuss blueprints for expanding camp. He was relieved to finally spot Calypso by the campfire. She was standing off to the side and looked about as exhausted as Leo felt. The girl had probably never had this much excitement in just one day.

Leo maneuvered his way through campers and came up behind her. "Hey," he murmured in her ear. He weaved an arm around her waist and placed his hand flat against her stomach. He both felt and heard her relieved sigh.

"Hi," she breathed, leaning into him.

Leo smiled and kissed the top of her head. "What do you say we get out of here?"

"Yes please," she answered gratefully.

Leo took her hand and led her away from the crowds. She followed wordlessly. As singing erupted from the campers, the two of them made their way into the woods and the voices faded into the distance.

As they walked, Leo clicked his tongue in patterns of four. It only took a minute or so before Festus came bounding towards them. "Hey Buddy," Leo greeted the dragon. Festus blew smoke out of his nose in response and creaked. Calypso gave the metal creature a hug and ran her hand along his neck. "Ready to go home?"

The dragon bounded ahead of them excitedly, and Leo and Calypso followed him to Bunker Nine. Leo placed his hand against the door. As it groaned open, Leo smiled at his girlfriend. "There's something I want to show you."

Calypso had seen Bunker Nine earlier that day, but she still felt in awe walking into the giant warehouse. Its walls arched high into the ceiling and were mildly decorated with maps and blueprints. The bunker had not been used since the war against Gaea, but tools still cluttered the worktables. Festus went over to a large platform in the corner and curled up, letting out a happy whirring sound.

Leo led Calypso to the back and stopped in front of a closed door. He turned to face her.

"Behold," he announced. "Your new cave."

He pushed open the door to reveal a small storage room. The tall shelves were filled to the ceiling with jars of paint and art tools. Calypso's jaw dropped when she walked inside and she let out a gasp. Her eyes wandered the room in awe.

Leo grinned widely at her reaction. "We found this with the rest of the bunker," he told her. "This workshop has pretty barren walls, and I thought you would be interested in making it a little more... inviting."

Calypso suddenly let out a high pitched squeal. She literally leaped in the air from excitement, and ran over to one of the shelves. "Is this charcoal?" She picked up a small box. "And all of these cans are acrylic!" She scanned the paints. "You must have every color in existence in this room!"

With a giant smile on her face, she bounded over to Leo. "Oh my gods you are the best!" She exclaimed, and threw her arms around his neck. She kissed him sweetly on the lips. "Thank you so much."

"I had a feeling you might like a surprise like this after such a crazy day."

Calypso nodded enthusiastically. "Oh!" She remembered. "I have a surprise for you too," she gave him a secretive look and excitedly picked up her handbag. "Okay," she said to Leo. "I need you to turn around and close your eyes."

Leo pouted. "What, I'm not allowed to see it?"

"It's a _surprise_ ," Calypso rolled her eyes. "Now-" she motioned with her finger for him to turn around.

Leo reluctantly did as he was told. He heard her approach him from behind, and she reached her arms over his shoulders. He felt something heavy fall against the back of his neck and he realized it was a necklace chain. Opening his eyes, he reached his hand up to the object now sitting against his heart. His eyes widened.

"But this is -"

"I know."

Leo turned to look at Calypso. "I gave it to you," he reminded her in concern. "It was so that you wouldn't miss Ogygia as much."

"When you gave it to me," Calypso replied, "you told me it was your ticket home. If that's true, then I feel better knowing you have it with you." She reached out and cradled the crystal in her palm. Her eyes focused on the pendant as she ran a finger along the smooth surface. "No matter what happens, I want to know that you'll come back..." her voice fell to a whisper. "That you'll come home."

"Calypso I told you," he stepped towards her, "I'm _not_ gonna leave-"

"I know," she assured him, placing her hand on his chest. "I know. But I still want you to have it."

Leo wrapped his right hand tightly around the crystal. He linked his free hand with her fingers and his intense dark eyes met hers.

"I will never take it off for as long as I live," he promised. "I am wearing this to my grave."

* * *

 **October 2014**

Five years ago, Leo would have laughed at the idea that he would ever _need_ anyone.

Leo Valdez was the epitome of independent. He flew solo. Always had. Always would. Leo Valdez was not _needy_.

So why did he feel so hollow?

It had only been about a week and a half. He had been asked to help out in New Rome with expanding the city, and the job required a talented handyman to lead a large team of campers in construction. Of course Leo said yes. Who better for the job than _the_ Repair Boy of the century?

Naturally he had invited Calypso to come along, but she thought it was better if she didn't. She wanted to stay at Camp Halfblood and keep the new shop running. They had agreed on the matter pretty easily, and Leo had not realized how strange it would feel to be away from her again.

It's not like at home he never left her side. Normally they were both pretty busy with their own activities and projects. But Leo didn't realize how much he relied on her presence in the evenings, and simply the knowledge of her being close by. Here, if he ever found himself completely alone he would suddenly panic and come close to having a mental break down. He was freaking himself out, and he needed to snap out of it.

But he couldn't just snap out if it. He felt like how he had during those painfully long days on the quest, when he was anxiously waiting to get back to that island and impatiently toiling over that Astrolabe. At the time, she had been his sole focus: the way she rolled her eyes every time he purposefully annoyed her, the sound of her laugh when he tried to be funny, the brush of her thin calloused hand against his cheek and the taste of her warm cinnamon breath when she kissed him on the beach...

She had been the sole motivation behind everything, his one source of energy. But now, he could go back to her anytime. The task at hand wasn't to _get_ to her. The task was to _stay away_.

He had no idea it would be so damn _difficult_. It was literally like dangling a piece of yarn in front of a cat and trying to train the cat to _not_ swat at it.

What had he been thinking?

"Leo?" Frank snapped his finger in front of his face. "Leo, anyone home? Wake up, man."

Leo shook his head, discovering that he had totally zoned out again. While he was daydreaming, his right hand had instinctively reached up to grip the crystal around his neck. That seemed to be happening more and more often these days. He ran a finger along the ragged edge, which he had memorized the feel of by now, before quickly dropping his hand and scratching his head.

"Uh, yeah," he replied, though he had no idea what they were talking about at this point. "I will probably only need about two more weeks for the amphitheater."

"Leo, we finished talking about the amphitheater," Reyna said. "We were asking about the new school."

"Oh," Leo looked down at the blueprints in front of him, trying to ignore the worried expressions on both the Praetors' faces. "Right. Um, the school still needs several weeks..."

Leo remembered when he had received the blueprints for the school. It was going to be built in the classical style with lots of columns and outside hallways. The grounds were huge, and he had thought some colorful gardens would make a great addition to the plan. He wondered if-

"Leo."

Leo jumped, his hand once again flying instinctively to the pendant over his heart.

It was Annabeth speaking this time, with that annoying, slightly intimidating analytic expression on her face. "Frank," she said, her eye still on Leo. "Do you think it's time we contacted Hazel?"

Leo had no idea what that meant. "Hazel?"

Frank smiled knowingly and held down a button on the wall. "Hazel," he said into the speaker, "we're ready for you."

Leo wondered if something was about to explode. He was getting the feeling that everyone else knew something he didn't. "Ready for wha-"

He never finished his question, because just then Hazel opened the door and a head of long, caramel-colored hair breezed into the room. Leo's heart leaped into his throat when a familiar pair of soft brown eyes met his own.

Before he knew what he was doing, Leo was suddenly across the room lifting her light body off the ground. He swung her around in a half circle and her fingers gripped his hair. Closing his eyes, he dug his face into her neck and breathed in a comforting whiff of cinnamon.

"Oh my gods," he exhaled, putting her feet back on the ground. Calypso moved her hands to the back of his neck and gave him a silly smile.

"Did you miss me?" She asked.

Leo opened his mouth to make an excuse for his reaction, but came up with nothing. Instead he just coughed out a relieved laugh and brushed his thumb over her cheek, drinking in her face. He _had_ missed her. Gods he'd missed her.

His fingers were tapping double time against her back in a familiar pattern that Calypso had learned was intuitive in her presence. The Morse Code's message made her smile, and she kissed him gently on the lips.

"Love you too," she murmured, as Leo moved his lips to kiss her on the forehead.

"We were noticing you were in need of a little... familiarity," Frank explained to Leo. "Your distraction level was abnormally high."

Leo hadn't realized his state of mind had been so apparent, but he sure wasn't gonna start complaining. He reached for Calypso's hands. "But what about the shop?"

"I was spending an unhealthy amount of time working," she answered. "I hadn't even noticed until Piper said something. She forced me to close the shop and take a few days off. She suggested I stop acting like I was still imprisoned on an island, so I decided to come find you."

Leo studied her hands, noticing several blisters that had not been there before.

"I think I spent so much time in the garden that the weeds will never dare come back," she joked. "I was on the verge of ripping up the entire thing so there would be more to do."

Leo smiled. "Glad to hear I wasn't the only one going insane."

"Get out of here, Valdez," Reyna dismissed him. "Take the day off. You need it."

And without a second glance back, Leo took Calypso's hand and led her out into the city of New Rome.

* * *

 **March 2017**

 _Calypso was back on her island, staring out at the wide open ocean. There was a raft in the distance, the one she had seen leave her so many times before. But this time, it was coming closer._

 _Excitement and hope filled her chest. He was back! He had come back like he'd promised!_

 _She ran down to the beach to meet the raft, but as it reached shore, she realized it wasn't the man who she was expecting. She paused, and her heart dropped._

 _The man standing on her beach a second time was not Leo Valdez. It was Percy Jackson._

 _Calypso licked her lips nervously. He did not look the same as when she first met him. He was taller, and stronger, and much more intimidating. She backed away slowly._

 _When he saw her he smiled widely, and ran over like he was ecstatic to finally be there again. This wasn't right. It didn't feel right. She didn't want him to be there again._

 _"Calypso!" He exclaimed. "Aren't you happy to see me?"_

 _Before she could answer, another voice spoke behind her. "Dear Calypso, certainly you missed me." She turned around to see Odysseus, who looked just as she remembered him. He stepped closer._

 _"Ah, but you really want me the most." Calypso turned around again and saw Drake coming from a different raft on the shore._

 _Her breathing sped up. She was surrounded. They were all approaching her, and yet none of them were the man she really wanted to see._

 _"Calypso," voices echoed all around her. There was suddenly a crowd of men, all the guys she had ever met on her island and at camp. They were moving towards her, suffocating her, looking at her with so much desire. She turned in circles as they closed in on her. She was looking around desperately for Leo, unable to see his face in the crowd._

 _Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind and she screamed. "Calypso," all of the voices echoed. "Calypso, come with me."_

 _"Leo!" She cried over the voices. Hands were tugging at her, pulling her away from the beach._

 _Then she saw him. He was sitting on the sand, nonchalantly fiddling with some wires, working on some unknown creation. "Leo!" She shouted again. There was no response. "Leo help me! Please!"_

 _He looked up slowly, although she wasn't sure if he heard her. He stared out at the water for a moment._

 _"Leo!" She screamed helplessly. The men were pulling her away, farther from where he sat._

 _Finally he turned towards her. But his eyes were dull. There were no glints of mischief, no secrets, no depth. No recognition. He seemed to look straight through her._

"Leo!" She screeched as terror flooded over her, and her eyes flew open.

Calypso found herself in the dark, with a bed underneath her and wet tears on her cheeks. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't still dreaming. She wasn't on Ogygia. She was at home, and a warm body breathed steadily next to her.

She took a few deep breaths to calm her madly beating heart. She reached an arm towards Leo, who was lying on his back. Her hand ran gently along his chest until it caught hold of the jewel around his neck. She pressed the crystal into her palm and let out a relieved sigh. Closing her eyes, she gradually drifted back to sleep.

* * *

 **August 2020**

It was a Sunday, and Calypso made her way home from New Athens' gardening club where she volunteered on the weekends. It was almost dinner time when she opened the door to the Garage. As she made her way through the shop's kitchen, she was surprised not to hear Leo's usual banging and drilling in the other room.

She put down her gardening tools and walked into the workshop. No one was there, not even Festus. "Leo?" She called, going over to the stairs that led to the flat above the shop. There was no response, and she began to feel concerned. Leo was always home at this time of day. Calypso climbed the stairs to the flat and called Leo's name again.

She was about to call for him a third time, but her voice was cut short when she saw the lovely bouquet of flowers sitting in a large vase on the dining room table. It was a combination of red and pink roses, interspersed with blue bells and yellow chrysanthemums. They were all flowers that Calypso grew in the backyard. Impressed, she went over to the flowers and found a note. It read:

 _Happy Anniversary_

 _Ten years ago today I achieved the impossible for you._

There was an arrow pointing to the right, which Calypso took to mean turn over the card. Smiling, she obeyed, and on the back read:

 _Marry me._

Her breath caught in her throat and her stomach did a giant somersault. She whipped around to discover Leo in front of her, on one knee, a ring in his hand and a silly smirk on his face.

"Oh my gods," Calypso breathed.

"If you were hoping to marry a different hero," he said, "I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Leo grinned. "I'm too madly in love with you."

Calypso became aware that she was gawking like a fish, but struggled to close her mouth.

"Calypso, will you - "

"Yes!" She shouted. "Oh my gods, yes!"

Leo stood up and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him fiercely. "Gods, I love you so much," she whispered, kissing him again. Leo held up the ring and Calypso took a better look at it. The inside of the gold band was engraved with her name in Greek, and on the other side it read _'goddess of my heart.'_ "How long did it take you to make this?" she asked.

"I started working on it about four months ago," Leo said. He turned it around to show her the jewel in the middle and smiled. "Recognize this?"

Calypso's eyes widened. "Is that -"

"I hope you don't mind," he tapped the crystal on his chest. "I chipped off a small piece."

Calypso's jaw fell open again and she smiled, letting out a laugh. "Are you kidding? I absolutely love it!"

Leo smiled at her again and held out his palm. She placed her hand in his and he slipped the ring on her finger.

"It fits okay?"

Calypso held out her hand to admire the ring. "It fits perfectly," she answered happily. "I will never take it off for as long as I live."

* * *

 **April 2022**

 _I have a daughter._

 _Holy Hephaestus, I have a_ daughter.

This was the thought that ran through Leo's head continuously as he stared down at the flawless sleeping bundle in his arms. He must have been staring at her for the past five minutes. You would think someone with as much energy as Leo would have a lot to say in a moment like this, but he had no words to describe what he was feeling. The moment had, without a doubt, knocked him speechless.

"You could say something to her, you know."

Leo looked up at his wife, who was sprawled out on the hospital bed, her long flowing hair spread out on the pillow. Although she had tired rings under her eyes, he had never seen her so happy. She looked so completely alive and content.

Leo swallowed and looked back down at the child in his arms. "Hey, babygirl," he tried. The baby didn't move. He reached over and ran a gentle finger along her tiny hand. Her soft fingers reflexively gripped his rough one and Leo took in a sharp breath.

"You have the littlest hands I have ever seen," he smiled. "They are going to be tough, talented hands, just like your mother's."

"And like her daddy's," Calypso chipped in from the bed.

Leo looked up at her again and grinned. "Excuse me," he joked. "I'm the one talking to her."

He looked back down at his daughter. Before he could continue his one way conversation, she suddenly began to squirm in his arms. Leo held his breath as the little creature slowly woke up, opening her dark, deep, chocolate brown eyes. Her little lips smacked together, and her even tinier tongue poked out of her mouth. Her hand released his finger and she made a small squeaking sound, moving her head back and forth inside the blanket. Her soft eyes wandered the room. Leo stared, totally forgetting to breathe.

The baby seemed to be smiling at him, and Leo suddenly found himself smiling back. Tears had managed to crawl into the corners of his eyes. "Hi," he choked out a whisper.

She squeaked again, her hand reaching out to touch his chest. She gripped tightly to the cloth on his shirt. Her hands continued to explore this new person, until they found the pendant around his neck. She clutched the crystal and stared, intrigued.

If Leo hadn't been crying before, he sure as hell was now. He let out a shaky breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and looked up at Calypso again, who watched him lovingly. She smiled warmly at their daughter.

"Welcome home, baby."

* * *

 **August 2090 (pre-epilogue)**

Leo and Calypso both lived to a ripe old age. In May 2090, Calypso's mortality finally took its toll, and she passed away at the age of 94.

Four months later, Leo found himself in his last few days of life. As he lay on his deathbed, he looked around at his family surrounding him. His daughter held his hand with tears in her eyes, his two granddaughters on either side of her. He had lived to meet his 4 great-grandsons and one great-granddaughter. He and Calypso both had. Watching all of them grow, Leo felt nothing but pride and happiness. Though he was soon to leave this world, he knew that he was leaving behind the best creation he had ever made - his family. A family that would continue into eternity. A creation that Leo knew would never break or be forgotten.

As Leo took his final breaths, he placed his daughter's hand on the crystal that still sat against his heart. He wrapped both of their hands around the pendant and ran both their fingers along the ragged edge and the smooth surface. As his world went dark, Leo felt content, with only one thought in his mind:

 _Home. I'm going home._

* * *

 **Epilogue**

Leo had given his daughter a piece of that crystal, which she wore around her neck her whole life. When she got old, she passed her crystal down to her daughter, who passed it on to her daughter, who passed it down to hers.

Generation after generation, that crystal was passed through the female line. As each family member received the heirloom, the crystal's story was passed down with it: the story of the lonely goddess, the hero who returned, and the crystal's silent promise to always lead a loving heart back home.

* * *

 **A/N: Guys. _He literally never takes it off._ If that isn't meaningful then I don't know what is.**

 **Please review!**


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